The Analysis: Jemimah Rodrigues and the case of the missed review

ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY: Off the fourth ball of the match, Katherine Brunt struck Jemimah Rodrigues on the pads but Trent Rockets opted against the review, and oh, how crucial it would prove

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If she thinks back to a conversation she had with The Cricketer prior to the start of The Hundred, Dani Hazell will be probably be feeling quite smug right now.

Assessing the impact the tournament could have on women’s cricket, the Northern Superchargers head coach pinpointed the exposure of the female players to DRS as something to watch, commenting: "For these girls who have never been involved in having a DRS, there’s going to be some interesting decisions. It will be a tough one for the captain out there."

While Hazell herself would likely admit she was hinting at wild, Roger Federer-esque, comically inaccurate challenges, her prediction that DRS decisions, be that missed opportunities or rash reviews, could prove costly came true at Trent Bridge. And it’s a decision which may haunt the experienced Trent Rockets trio of captain Nat Sciver, bowler Katherine Brunt and wicketkeeper Rachel Priest.

In their pre-match briefing, one player wearing Superchargers purple will have been identified as the danger batter and she’s a player who likely needs little introduction. Jemimah Rodrigues, the 20-year-old Indian international who smashed an unbeaten 92 from just 43 balls against Welsh Fire on her domestic debut in England.

Brunt got her first look at the young star after just three balls and sent a length delivery crashing into Rodrigues’ knee roll. A brief chinwag followed before Sciver and co. opted against the review, possibly believing, like this armchair 'expert' that it was too high. Except Rodrigues is only 5ft2 and, as the TV replays showed, a review would have sent the Indian opener back to the changing rooms for a duck.

At first, you could be forgiven for thinking the missed review didn’t appear to be too costly. At the end of the powerplay, Rodrigues had six runs from 10 balls. It took her a further four deliveries to pick out a boundary.

And then, just like at Headingley on Saturday, she started motoring. She is not a powerful batter; maximums do not flow freely from her bat. However, what she does have is enviable spatial awareness. Indeed, if her cricket ability has any correlation to her maths skills, I’d wager she never struggled with loci.

Her second four, struck off the 48th ball of the day, was a beautiful late cut, played very fine and leaving ‘keeper Priest flat-footed. Four balls later, Sarah Glenn was on the receiving end of Rodrigues’ eagle eye, narrowly missing a caught and bowled opportunity before turning round to watch the ball trickle just inches beyond the fingertips of Lucy Higham to bring up four.

However, perhaps the pick of Rodrigues’ innings was her demolition of Sciver during the Rockets captain’s third five. The 77th ball was dispatched for a fortuitous edge down to short third man, the 78th picking out a gap at deep square leg, a dot ball to catch her breath before a delightful pull which left the scrambling midwicket fielder helpless.

The first of the three boundaries brought up Rodrigues’ second half-century of The Hundred – 52 runs off 36 balls, including eight fours. After scoring just six runs from the first 10 balls she faced, the next 26 yielded 46. And she added eight more before departing for a 41-ball 60 off the 89th ball, the second of three players to fall to Sammy-Jo Johnson in her final five.

Yep, could prove quite costly...

Quality boundary from Rodrigues as she glides Glenn behind point 👌#NorthernSuperchargers 🟣 | #TrentRockets 🟡

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— Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 26, 2021

Now, there were several other key moments in both innings of this match. Laura Kimmince dispatching Glenn for five consecutive fours to propel the Superchargers from 113 for 2 to 133 in the blink of an eye, Johnson’s three wickets at the death which prevented the away side from posting a 160+ score, the miserly bowling of Linsey Smith, Hollie Armitage hanging onto a bullet from Sciver to put the England international out of the game, caught and bowled for a 23-ball 33 – in almost identical circumstances in the first innings, Johnson put down Winfield-Hill.

However, there is only one moment the Trent Rockets camp, and indeed probably most of their rivals, will look back on following their 27-run defeat: the missed review off the fourth ball of the day. And it does raise an important question about game management. As Kumar Sangakarra opined during the interval (and also quite vehemently during his commentary), knowing the importance of Rodrigues to the Superchargers batting line-up, was it not worthy of a review regardless?

Granted, a review is always a risk, particularly when you are not certain and only have one in the bank. Sciver also wasn’t to know that from the remaining 95 balls, there wouldn’t be a single review-worthy chance, nor that Rodrigues would go on to score a punishing half-century. But with the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to fault Sangakarra’s logic.

As it stands, Sciver didn’t review the fourth ball of the game, Rodrigues did score a half-century, helping her side to 149 for 7, and Trent Rockets fell short in their chase. Was the defeat entirely the fault of the missed review? No. But two things are certain. Number one, this won’t be the last game-changing review of The Hundred. Number two, Jemimah Rodrigues is arguably the best batter in the tournament, and you can’t afford to give her an inch.